Under the Mistletoe
by FanFicAddict02
Summary: Christmas is only a fall of the Dawn away, but Woody has already lost the one he'd truly loved.  Will he be able to find new comfort this year around?  Or will all remain how it should be?  One-shot.  Enjoy!


_**Under the Mistletoe.**_

__**Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.**

He would never forget the last Christmas they had spent together and neither would he push from his mind what he had told her under the mistletoe. With courage and optimism all merging together making him certain of himself he had told her that they'd always be together, for better or worse, no matter what. And he had believed this with all the stodgy stuffing in his heart, daring not to consider the fates that lay ahead of them now that their owner was already a teenager under any situation.

For better or worst… Of course, he had meant those words at the time. For the better or the worst they'd remain together forever, at harmony with their spirits and wisdom, and he'd never leave her side no matter the cost. He had handed her the desires of his heart that night, and told her it'd remain forever eternal in their flamboyant souls, and had poured out his riches for her. They had been at the Davis' tree at twilight during a late-night wander and had found themselves under the mistletoe Mom hung up on the tree's branches for decoration. She had rejoiced at his words and had embraced him, planting many sweet, silky kisses on his cheeks realizing what they had been under. And she had believed him.

This was the worst mistake he could've let her make. Only two months later Andy had held a yard sale to clear up his room of any unnecessary items and the Sheriff had been rendered helpless as the dawning teenager's eyes fell across the porcelain lamp and her sheep, examining them thoughtfully. And his heart had stopped dead in his tracks when their owner had nodded his head to himself in deep dwelling. The look of certainty on Andy's face had been enough to tell a tale of a thousand words, locking in place the Sheriff's pessimistic thoughts and fixing the dreaded conclusion in place with glass in square voids bordered by the most ancient wood. But he hadn't done anything to prevent the worst from happening. He had been too shocked in surprise and onsets of grief to think properly, but now he severely regretted this thinking back on the day. For a promise broken meant that he hadn't stuck to his word when she had been counting on him to follow it and now he ached inside thinking back to that day.

And now it was Christmas Eve of the year she had been sold and he had no special counterpart to spend the Christmas celebrations with…

…

Stopping in his tracks for several moments after entering his room, Andy brushed a lock of his shaggy hair from his face and let out his long-awaited sigh. He'd had better days. In his hands, as the toys could he, he held a Christmas decoration of some sort. Only when his cell-phone rang in his pocket and he fished it out to answer it did they realize that it was in fact the novelty mistletoe his Mother hung on the tree every year to decorate. Pressing the mobile device to his ear, he spoke up:

"Hello?" He was groggy and rubbed his eyes as he spoke. "Oh. Hi, Harvey… No - it didn't work."

Crossing over to the other side of the room he collapsed on his chair in exasperation. "Yes, I tried, Harv. But it didn't work." The teenager abruptly groaned, throwing the decoration on his desk and rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "I just told you - I tried that but it didn't work… I don't know what I'm going to do about her, Harv. I want to tell her, but I keep stuttering up and acting like an idiot whenever I get the chance… Oh, I don't know what to do. It's pointless…" He nodded half-heartedly and planted his forehead in his palm. "All right. I'll see you later, then."

He hung up and leant back in his chair, sighing again. He always managed to look like a complete hooligan in front of his high-school crush someway or another, and the fact that he was unsuccessful in all of his attempts to communicate effectively with her only aggravated him more. How on Earth would be able to express how he felt? Without looking like a complete imbecile, in better terms.

Blinking heavily to clear his thoughts, his gaze wandered around the room where he eventually came across the sight of his cowboy doll sitting besides his TV in the corner of the room. He didn't know why he hadn't put him away yet like he had done with all of the other toys, but to do so now just seemed so irrational and plainly just uncalled for. This toy had been with him through so much, after all: Through the loss of his father and through his childhood keeping eye on him as a watchful protector, fending away the monsters under the bed he had once been terrified of and being his something to cling onto when he had felt lonely. To let him gather dust in the toy box with the rest of his toys would be extortion, of the worst kind. So he had left him there, perfectly within sight and definitely within reach. But he still hadn't laid a finger on him in months, and now he began to wonder why he hadn't.

Andy Davis soon felt that he had sunk to his lowest when he began talking to it. "What am I supposed to do, Sheriff?" He asked, his voice edging in near defeat. "I want to tell her, but I just can't." He paused for a few moments, and Woody felt the great desire to reach out to him and pat him on the shoulder. But of course he couldn't. "What would you suggest? Should I just move on?"

Move on… That sounded like a really good option for him… However, before Woody could ponder over the subject some more, Andy interrupted his train of conscious thought, groaning and balling his fists against his eyes: "Oh, just great. Now I'm talking to a toy…" The Sheriff toy was deeply touched by this, and wanted to dismiss all of Andy's accusations completely. But, again, he had no choice but to face the beat and smile. "I need to get ready," Andy continued, dismissing the subject before getting ready to head to his friends. The Davis' were planning to spend the night at his grandmother's, so Woody truly would spend this Christmas Eve feeling desolate inside.

…

He stood back observing the tree with his artificial lights shining bright and decorations teaming with life. He had been alone that night ever since the Davis' had departed, preferring not to make contact with any of the others toys to reminisce in his lumbering thoughts. Mom had obviously forgotten to turn off the Christmas lights as they all shone bright in this room, but he was glad of their presence despite this. The zealous enthusiasm that would be guided from the cores of the brilliant lights shining bright often left him feeling settled and comforted. This time wasn't any exception as be inhaled deeply and let his breath out slowly; pushing the thoughts he didn't want to dwell on into the back of his mind for the time being. He could see where Ms. Davis' had hung the novelty mistletoe on one of the tree's lowest branches suspended maybe twenty centimetres above the ground…

Losing himself in thought, he stared at the tree for many minutes before he was distracted from his train of thought.

"Woody?" He heard a voice ask, a tone so soft and delicate he almost didn't hear it. Puzzled he turned around looking bewildered, his hands looped through the rings of his belt. In the dim light he saw her figure and instantly recognized whom it belonged to.

"Jessie!" He proclaimed, slightly shocked. All the other toys had been engaging in some sorts of festive activities upstairs, so it was an understatement to say that he was slightly surprised by her presence. He honestly thought she'd be playing with Bullseye, or something along that line. "What are you doing down here?"

"I ought to ask you the same thing, cowboy," She said, taking a few steps towards him. Jessie was looking at him with eyes parted in concern, and he knew she'd only pester him some more if he didn't let out with it. She always could read him like a book, after all - allegedly. "It ain't normal for a toy to be without turf or company for so long."

He would've protested, but then came around to the same conclusion he had done only a few moments before. Letting out a small sigh, he told her: "I just came down for a walk - to clear my thoughts." Jessie only seemed half-convinced by his answer, but she gave him enough freedom to continue. "What about you? You don't usually part away from the others like that, either."

Jessie was hesitant, but then thought fair was fair. "I just came down here to take a good look at the Christmas lights."

"Why?"

Her eyes narrowed. She sensed that Woody was probably thinking of something he could do well not thinking about, and instinctively she felt concerned and oddly curious. "I reckon it's my turn to ask the question here, Sheriff."

Suppressing a sigh, he retained the urge to roll back his eyes and answered. "Bo and I…well…we stood under the tree last Christmas Eve talking, and…" There was something, right at the very back of his mind that he all so wanted to say, but he couldn't quite place the words at the tip of his tongue.

"You're missing her, aren't you Woody?"

He nodded sheepishly. Lifting his head, he tried to dismiss the subject for the time being. "What about you? Why do you like looking at the lights?"

Folding her arms across her chest her mouth tilted this way and that in thought. After a few moments she finally decided to tell him: "I haven't told you this, Woody, but Emily used to place me on the tree as a Christmas decoration when she had been young." The Sheriff's expression seemed to lighten at that, and he encouraged her further. "She would sit me on the tree and I would sit there for a few days while the celebrations lasted. And I've always like to watch the lights on Christmas trees since then, though none of them could in Tarnation compare to me." She chuckled heartedly, smiling gently at the Sheriff so that he knew he wasn't alone in whatever grief he was forcing himself through. However, Woody's expression only faltered. "You're still down in the dumps about her?" She did not need an answer. The silence spoke for itself, evidently enough. It hung for a few moments longer until she thought of an idea. "D'you wanna talk about it?"

He shook his head at first, but then he was rendered completely helpless. "Yes…"

She smiled nervously, and took his hand elegantly, her touch filling his hand up with some strange kind of static. "Then let's go sit down by the tree." And they did so…and they talked. He told her awkwardly about how he missed her, and she told him of the friends she had lost through Emily and so on and so forth. And they continued on like this for a large majority of the night until, that is, Woody noticed what they were sitting under.

Noticing that he was staring off into strange lands, she followed his gaze only to be met fruitfully by the sight of Ms. Davis' mistletoe. Wide-eyed she directed her eyes back towards Woody and stared at him completely flabbergasted. "A mistletoe…"

"Yeah…" Woody murmured slowly with the same tone in his voice. He looked up, and then back down. And then realized that he didn't want to break that tradition in the slightest. For some reason or another he felt closer to Jessie now than ever after their heart-to-heart talk.

"Would that mean we'd have to…?" She couldn't continue, cutting herself off with her own level of sudden fluctuation.

"I guess so," He answered, simply. "But I wouldn't want to break the tradition, would you?"

She looked confused for a few moments before she finally caught the drift of the situation. "Well, I wouldn't want to." She said, though inside she was quite sceptical of the idea.

That damn silence was as thick as cement, trapping the two of them in place as they slowly leaned towards each other. The distance began to close between them as they edged nearer and nearer to each other. But of course, the Sheriff just had to get distracted by those 'pretty lights'.

"Wow," He proclaimed, suddenly forgetting everything. He turned his head and Jessie clamped a hand to her left eye in shock. "Is that light shaped like a snowman?"

Due to a delayed reaction, Jessie cried out abruptly causing his eyes to go wide in disbelief. "Jessie? Are you all right?"

She glared at him icily through her right eye, and Woody then realized that he had never come across a look quite as intense as this before… "What d'ya think?" She demanded coldly. "You just poked me in the eye with your nose!"

His artificial heart of fabric and cotton almost dropped at that. "Oh, Jessie, I'm sorry!"

"Just forget it…" She said snobbishly.

And the Sheriff hadn't felt more of a pariah in his life.

A/N I bet I aggravated some of you there :P Heck, I even did it to myself... Okay, so I wanted to write a one-shot for the Christmas Season and so came up with this. I don't know what it is with one-shots, but I always feel like I've ingested a galleon of pop whenever I finish writing them. Peculiar…

Well, hope you all enjoyed this strange piece of work. May I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! A/N


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